Many sports involve striking and launching a ball, puck or similar target object with a club, racket, hockey stick, or other piece of equipment. Construction of such equipment has changed and evolved over the years. Two important areas in which advances in hockey stick design have improved performance are blade design and shaft materials. Changes in blade design have increased maneuverability and shooting velocity. Changes in materials, such as use of composite materials, has allowed precise control of stick stiffness, facilitating increased storage and return of elastic energy from the player's motion to the puck.
Hockey is enjoyed by participants of a broad range of ages and skill levels, from beginners to professionals. To meet diverse needs across players, hockey stick manufacturers have developed numerous models of hockey sticks. Models of hockey sticks vary in shaft stiffness, blade pattern (blade curve and lie angle), kick point location, and other parameters. Mechanically, alterations to shaft stiffness affect energy storage and return during a shot, which in turn alters puck velocity. Results of research studies on stick stiffness and puck velocity have shown a trend that athletes generally perform better with a more flexible stick, likely as a result of greater deflection of the stick during the shot. However, the results have been very player-specific and depend on how a particular player applies force to or loads the stick. Different players perform better with different stiffness values (Grover et al. 2013; Worobets et al. 2006).
Striking tools used in other sports have similarly evolved significantly in recent decades with advances in materials and manufacturing techniques.